Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Summer runner

I finally dusted off my sewing machine and made this summery table runner for a gift using a charm pack and a half yard of white fabric. The fabric is Treasures and Tidbits.

To make this quick runner cut 160 squares 1.75" x 1.75", and pick out 40 – 5" squares or use a charm pack.

Make a snowball block by sewing a white square in each corner of the 5" square. I find it easiest to chain piece when I make these blocks, and as you can see down below I used my masking tape trick instead of marking all of those tiny squares with pencil lines.

Then sew them together 4 blocks in a row & 10 rows. Or 10 blocks in a row & 4 rows….whatever suites your fancy.

I got A LOT of questions about keeping my lines straight when I do straight line quilting. Usually I use the edge of my foot as a guide….or if I’m doing thicker lines I have a nifty bar/guide that hooks into my walking foot. I think more than anything straight lines just take practice…lots and lots of practice. But even after lots of practice you’ll still get some crooked lines…guaranteed (see those quilting lines up there??? crooked!) So don’t be so hard on yourselves if you get a crooked line here or there. :)

When I looked at the title of your post, I thought that you had stopped quilting and taken up running for the summer. "Noooooo!" I thought. Thank goodness it was the OTHER kind of runner. :) Thanks for the fun idea!Kathy

Thanks for the peace of mind about straight line quilting...I am just finishing up quilting the lines on my fall tumbler quilt that I wanted to make after I saw yours. None of the lines are perfect, but it is such a striking quilt with all the different color and scale that I love it so much! Your tablerunner is beautiful!